Our First Work

One reason for starting Brown Dog Press is to explore the process of bringing a book idea to reality. Everything we read and everyone we talk to indicate that modern book publishing is a very tough business. Nothing sells, you won’t make any money and all your work will soon be forgotten in the sea of old and new books. But there are positive signs. You just have to look for them. Electronic book sales may be at a plateau. If you talk to people who actually read, you hear how they want a physical book – an artifact that they can hold, set down, fold back a page. Perhaps most importantly, they want an object that does not have a screen to stare at*. Maybe computer/smart phone use is reaching a saturation point as well. That would be great. To be practical about it though, we have to have limited goals. The first thing to go is the idea that we can make a living from publishing books on esoteric subjects with limited audiences. We get that. So, turning a profit is out the window. The goal is to cover expenses. If that doesn’t happen then we are resigned to calling this endeavor a hobby (an enjoyable undertaking but negative cash flow).

We want to learn how books are created and brought to market. Publishing is a mature, established industry. It is not one that leans itself to starting at the top. We are going to start at the bottom and work up. The bottom seems to be the do-it-yourself world of the zine. Zines are self-written, self-constructed and self-distributed printed works. It is a neat subculture with its own history, icons and ethos. Seems like a good place to start, so here it is-

16 oz Asheville

Our first work is a zine-hybrid. It consists of three sheets of printer paper, ½ sheet of card stock, two staples and the imprint from a handmade decorative stamp. It holds information on 79 places in and around Asheville, NC where you can get a cup of coffee. Coffee shops and other coffee sources are listed geographically with their address, hours of operation, and each shop’s charge to fill a 16 oz travel mug. Each shop listing also lets you know if they have WiFi, if decaf is available and who roasted their beans. All of this for a modest $3, which is about the cost of a cup of coffee. Add 50¢ for postage or send us one first class stamp if you would like us to mail it to you. Overseas, Canada or Mexico please email for shipping costs. Copies are available to trade for like-minded zines.

We need to sell around 65 copies to cover the cost to put it together. If we do that then there may be a 2020 version with updated info, Send inquiries or PayPal payment to: [email protected]

Cover

Table of Conents

The List of businesses that PennyCup Coffee supplies – June 2019

Works we hope to bring out in the future (as standard books):

Dissertation sur la Café (1807)

Monographie du Café (1832)

Monographie du Thé (1843)

Manuel du Distilliteur (1901)

Madagascar : La Vie de Soldat (1905)

126 Recettes pour faire des Liqueurs (1932)

140 Recettes pour faire sous-même des Apéritifs (1932)

* We know. The sentence ends in a preposition. Here’s the joke about that situation.